The
Army from the Great Continental War to the final defeat of Atlantis, 743
– 890

THE ARMY DURING THE GREAT CONTINENTAL WAR

The AtlanteanArmy, its organisation, weaponry and
tactics, changed radically during the great conflict of 743 to 750. The
overall size of the armed forces was tremendously increased, to defend
the empire against all her enemies. Full conscription since 745 meant
that she could field forces of over 1110000 men in 747, rising to a
maximum in 748 of 1400000. Individual armies (PUEGGISIX), which had
numbered 26 in 743, roughly two per Province, reached 40 by 746. They
were usually grouped into Army Groups (BORPUEGGISIX), each with 3 to 7
Armies. The PUEGGISIX, about 24000 strong in 743, were divided into 4
CENNDARCOYIX, (literally "NEW THIRDS"), which were
rechristened as THEINULPUEGGISIX (literally "QUARTER ARMIES")
in 746, later simply THEINUIX (or "QUARTERS"). Also another
unit was created between those of THEINUIX (5000) and PUONDIX (480).
This was the DARCOYO of 1200, while the PUONDIX were reduced in size to
about 200. In 749 these DARCOYIX were also given new names – OCHOSSIX,
as a deliberate reminder of Second Empire times. Units became
disassociated from the Provinces in which they were raised. The
traditional naming of each Army according to its region of origin was
done away with, and by 746, all units were known by a simple number.
Cavalry were also reorganised, and new, larger, independent cavalry
armies were created after 746, to carry out wide manoeuvres and make the
rapid advances, which were such a feature of the later stages of the
war, compared with the trench-bound middle years. Thus pistol-armed,
cavalry THEINUIX, of 4000 –5000 men appeared, ultimately under the
control only of the BORPUEGGIS. They were then often combined into
cavalry PUEGGISIX.

Changes in tactics and weaponry by 750 were considerable compared
with 743. Initially, the forces with the better weapons inevitably
overwhelmed their weaker opponent, as the Basquecs did against the
Atlanteans in the first year of the war. But as all sides gradually
armed themselves with similar breech-loading rifles and artillery, it
became more and more difficult to succeed in head-on, frontal assaults,
And the defensive seemed to be gaining the advantage. This is
particularly noticeable in the static fighting around Cennatlantis in
745-746. However, tactics changed accordingly: infantry formations grew
looser. Men spread out more, and skirmishers were used more
consistently. Generals tried to gain the advantage using turning
movements, outflanking their opponents. They (especially now the
Atlanteans) made use of the new, large, wide-ranging cavalry armies to
sweep round the rear of the enemy. Finally transport and support were
built up, using horse-power, transport on sea, lake and canal, and on a
small scale, steam-powered vehicles.

ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE FOURTH
EMPIRE

As the need for huge forces vanished after 750, and the Empire
returned to relative peace, the size of the armed forces was slashed,
from 1400000 in 747 toaround680000 by 752. This was
gradually increased as the decades passed, and more wars had to be
fought, and by 7995, at the time of the Southern Revolt and war with
Rabarrieh, it had reached 880000. Nevertheless, conscription was dropped
and throughout the Fourth Empire, the Army was a voluntary force. In
structure, it remained basically as it had been in 750, and the whole
Army was divided permanently into six Fronts. Each of these defended
against different neighbouring countries. Northern against Skallandieh
and Keltish rebellion; Eastern against the Ughans; South-Eastern against
the Basquecs; Southern against Rabarrieh; North-Western to cover
Phonaria and relations with Yciel Atlantis and Naomandix; and Central, a
reserve in the Provinces around Cennatlantis and Atlantis. Each of these
consisted of a number of Borpueggisix. Recruitment areas reverted to the
areas in which Pueggisix were posted. Cavalry Pueggisix were linked to
areas rather than Borpueggisix. The organisation was overseen at the top
by the Emperor. A Commander-in-Chief was responsible to him, and under
him came the Grand Generals for each administrative area or Front, and
then the Generals of the Borpueggisix.

(Note: After the spelling reforms of 760, several of these military
units were written somewhat differently, e.g. FEGGIS for PUEGGIS, FOND
for PUOND, FEGGISSIX as plural of FEGGIS, not FEGGISIX. We shall
recognise these changes for the rest of this article.)

The ban on new inventions imposed under the Third Empire had
disappeared during the Continental War and remained a dead letter
throughout the Fourth Empire. The standard infantry firearm was the
single-action breech-loading rifle until the 770s, when magazine rifles
were introduced.Machine-guns were first used in the 790s, and
allocated to Ochossix after 800. There was increasing use of steam-power
throughout this period. Steam transport on roads replaced horsepower, as
did railways after the 770s. Steam-driven armoured vehicles, or tanks,
had been used in a primitive form in the 650s and 660s, but they were
then banned throughout the 3rd Empire. They were reintroduced
after 780, and were initially placed with the cavalry under the cavalry
Feggis. After 800, they became independent of the cavalry, and
centralised under Borfeggissix in groups of ten, i.e. Doulix. They were
then loosely attached to infantry Theinuix. After 795 electrical
semaphore was invented, though mechanical semaphore had been in general
use since the 400s.

WARS OF THE FOURTH EMPIRE, AND THE CHANGES IN TACTICS

The Atlantean Army was involved in several different wars during
the Fourth Empire, the first two of which were entirely fought out in
neighbouring countries. These were the Basquec Civil War in the 760s,
and the Ughan Civil War in the 770s. These were followed by the War
against Rabarrieh after 792, much of which too place in the southern
parts of the Empire. Each of these Wars saw changes in weaponry and
tactics which affected all the armies taking part.

Atlantean involvement in the Basquec Civil War began in 765 and ended
a few years later in 768, although other countries also took part for
different periods within the 760s. It was a war fought by all
participants with small armies, and distances and terrain made co-ordinated
operations difficult. The infantry of most participants, including of
course Atlantis, were now armed with rifles, although the armies of some
of the smaller countries involved still used crossbows. Cavalry forces
were found most useful by Atlantis, and these were now always armed with
pistols and swords. Steam-powered vehicles were used for supply, to some
extent, although they had problems moving in some of the more trackless
areas of Basquecieh. Rivers and canals were well-developed in the
country, however, and Atlantis made much use of steamships for supply
and combat, as well as mines and minelayers to deter enemies.

From 774 to 781, Atlantis was involved, again with various other
countries, in the Ughan Civil War. This was fought somewhat similarly to
the Basquec Civil War, again involving quite small forces spread out
over very large distances. By this time, all participants used rifles,
and Atlantis made increasing use of the magazine rifle, which had
entered service there just after 770. Other countries adopted it during
the 770s and 780s. Cavalry was less popular here, as the terrain in
which the fighting took place was more mountainous that it had been in
the previous war. In fact the wide-ranging and fast-moving manoeuvres of
the Basquec War were largely replaced by more defensive fighting, with a
lot of sieges or blockades of towns. Steam-power was increasingly used
for transporting infantry, and within Atlantis, at least, the invention
of railways after 770 speeded up this travel. The war also saw some more
tentative use of steam tanks, though to little effect.

The Southern Revolt began in 792, and this led to full-scale war with
Rabarrieh after 798, which lasted on till the time of the Tyrants.
During the Fourth Empire, the fighting remained relatively small-scale,
but very different to that of the preceding two wars. For one thing the
combat was within Atlantis’s own borders; also it involved
guerrilla-type fighting in urban or semi-urban environments. The
Rabarrans made use, at first, of small guerrilla forces, which moved
quickly about the countryside, attacking poorly defended towns and
villages, often with the support of sympathetic militias within those
settlements. The Atlanteans were forced into defensive positions,
usually small forts, frequently defended by machine-guns, and also
barbed wire and minefields. Both sides made considerable use of cavalry
and even camel-forces in the desert regions. This war was also the first
to witness the widespread use of railways by both sides, which made the
problem of supply throughout this vast area much easier to solve. By
this time, Atlantis had adopted the 5000 strong THEINUL as its basic
military unit, with the FEGGIS as an administrative co-ordinator.
Stronger firepower made fronts wider and wider, and troops ever more
dispersed, but until the 790s there was an ongoing tactical argument
over assaults. Should these consist of fairly close-standing, charging
ranks of OCHOSSIX, or much more widely dispersed OCHOSSIX, attacking in
waves? The latter doctrine finally won by the 790s, but it proved
difficult to use it for decisive attacks. Not until heavier
concentrations of artillery were made available after 800 were such
attacks made more effective.

WARS UNDER THE TYRANTS

Already by the early 800s, Atlantis and Rabarrieh were beginning
to field larger armies on the battlefield, and after 805, conscription
was re-introduced. Thoun Celeuos, the first Tyrant, undertook the first
really large-scale campaigns against the Rabarrans south of the
Helvengio, using an army fully equipped with magazine rifles,
machine-guns, balloons, electric telegraph, and a widening railway
network. He concentrated particularly on increasing the amount of
artillery with the armies, and also for the first time, experimented
with the large-scale use of tanks. Cavalry fell much more into the
background. However, after initial successes, he ran up against strongly
defended Rabarran defences in and around towns, and the Battle of
Dohgash in 807 demonstrated the great power of the defensive in modern
warfare, as the Atlanteans suffered horrific casualties in trying to
force the Rabarran position. They had more success where they could
manoeuvre, as against the Ughans later in the decade.

Under the two subsequent Tyrants, the traditional strength of the
Atlantean Army collapsed, as it was deliberately run down in favour of
the Security Forces, which were considered to be much more loyal to the
Tyrants’ regime. Conscription remained, but increasingly only of
Juralics plus Dravideans. Fighting gradually spread all round the
fringes of the Empire, while within it, the Security Forces hit the
"undesirable aliens", that is all non-Juralic peoples. The
civil war of 828 saw the both types of armies at war with each other,
amidst a welter of atrocities. These campaigns were fought on a large
scale, but as in the previous century, the size of armies to territory
was very small. The strength of current firepower and entrenchments
meant that small forces could be spread out over large areas, and
neither side was able to attack very successfully, without suffering
huge casualties. Overwhelming attacks on small fronts, backed up by
artillery, and supported by tanks were an answer to this dilemma, and
had been adumbrated in the battles against Rabarrieh in 807 onwards.
However, these led to very heavy casualties, as would be seen later in
the Great Northern War.

THE FIFTH EMPIRE

There were no radical changes in the structure of the Atlantean Army
for the remaining years of the Empire’s existence. The units were
still the DOUL, FOND, OCHOS, THEINUL, FEGGIS and BORFEGGIS. After the
start of the Northern War, the FEGGISSEMME was introduced, that is, the
Army Group. These represented some three or more FEGGISSIX, at least
200000 men. Tanks were used more and more, at first in small groups (DOULIX)
attached to THEINUIX, but after the 840s, grouped independently into
bigger units called CELOULIX (literally "Fifties"), under the
general control of the BORFEGGIS. At times in the earlier part of the
century, small independent tank groups were tried out. These consisted
of perhaps one infantry THEINUL, one tank DOUL or CELOUL and one cavalry
OCHOS, plus artillery. However, they proved unable to cope in the later
bigger wars, such as the Great Northern War and the Final Wars. Light
cavalry were correspondingly used less and less, and most light cavalry
PUONDS were dropped after the 840s. Until the 870s, some two OCHOSSIX of
medium cavalry or mounted infantry were linked to infantry FEGGISSIX.
After the 870s, attempts were made to join tank CELOULIX with light and
medium cavalry THEINUIX. Conscription was dropped in 829, but
reintroduced in 845 and retained thereafter on a limited scale.

Fire-power had grown stronger, and the defensive grew ever more
powerful. Larger armies than ever before were collected for this war,
and they were concentrated much more tightly on the ground. Due to the
mountains to the east and the sea to the west, fronts were narrow, and
it was also very difficult to carry out any turning-movements round
flanks. The idea of close-packed infantry assaults, backed by ever
heavier concentrations of artillery, was reused, despite the casualties
caused in the wars of the early Tyrants. Tanks were first used on a
large scale, and by both sides, in the Great Northern War, but except on
rare occasions, they were unable to break through the thick lines of
barbed-wire entanglements and trenches which stretched across the whole
front. Artillery was used in massive quantities in this war, as well,
but again it seemed to strengthen the defensive more than the offensive.

By the time of the Final Wars, machine-guns had become ubiquitous,
and some use of poison-gas occurred. After 870, the strength of the
defensive was partly overcome, and replaced by manoeuvre, because the
size of the armies compared with the large areas in which they fought
was much smaller than it had been in the Northern War. Furthermore, the
massive use of tanks, combined with faster-moving infantry, supported by
artillery, and accompanied by cavalry, made for a much more mobile
warfare, at least in the Early Wars and the start of the Later ones.
After about 880, fronts stabilised again, and breakthroughs were now
only possible by dint of careful preparation, ruse, overwhelming
numerical superiority, massive artillery attack, and fast-moving tanks
or cavalry. (As the 880s wore on, both sides "ran out" of
tanks, du e to tremendous casualties, and cavalry was again employed
instead – but again at the cost of great losses.) Ultimately the
Atlanteans were overwhelmed largely by superior numbers in the Later
Final Wars.